The war for desktop video has begun and Microsoft/Facebook have struck the first blow.

Facebook this Wednesday said it’s bringing Skype video calling to the social networking site, and making improvements to its “Group Chat” program.

Facebook calls the video effort “Facebook Calling”

CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook now has more than 750 million users, and is “still growing quickly” — and is bringing Skype, the “best technology” for video chat to Facebook, which is probably “the biggest chat program online.”

Such sharing, be it through video or groups, is what is going to dominate the future of the Internet, Zuckerberg said.

In addition to video calling being available for group chats, it will be available for one-on-one calls.

If your friend is online, with “one quick click” on the call button, you can establish a call with that friend, a Facebook staffer said during the presentation Wednesday.

Tony Bates, Skype CEO, said the company is averaging more than 300 million minutes of video a month, and 50 percent of its business is Internet traffic. Now, putting Skype into Facebook makes sense.

“The next place is to make it simple and easy, and there’s no greater way to get to the Web than Facebook,” he said.

This is going to be a great opportunity for Microsoft to absolutely DOMINATE the video platform both online and on the desktop.

If they can follow up with a robust Windows 8/Skype integration, they will be the dominant player in video chat for at least the next decade.

About the Author

Onuora Amobi is the Founder and VP of Digital Marketing at Learn About The Web Inc. Onuora has more than a decade of information security, project management and management consulting experience. He has specialized in the management and deployment of large scale ERP client/server systems.

In addition to being a former Microsoft MVP and the founder and editor of EyeOnWindows.com, he is the CEO of a Pasadena based online marketing education startup - Learn About The Web Inc. (www.learnabouttheweb.com) and The Redmond Cloud (https://www.theredmondcloud.com).